Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch Ex Poir)

The investigations were carried out to evaluate the 64 genotypes (28 F1, 28 F2 and 8 parental lines) of pumpkin ((Cucurbita moschata Duch. Ex Poir.)’at Department of Vegetable Science, Kalyanpur, CSA. University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur (U.P.) during Zaid 2021. The experiments were laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications. The data were recorded for 19 characters including total fruit yield per plant and its component traits. Analysis of variance showed that there was highly significant variation for all the characters studied. In F1 generation, the highest genotypic as well as phenotypic coefficients of variations were observed for fruit yield/plant. In F2 generation, the highest genotypic as well as phenotypic coefficients of variation were observed for fruit yield/plant and average fruit weight. In F1, high heritability in narrow sense coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean were observed for equatorial circumference of fruit, polar circumference of fruit and seeds/fruit while in F2, high heritability coupled with high genetic advance as percent of mean were observed for seeds/fruit. High estimate of heritability along with high genetic advance in percent of mean provides good scope for further improvement in advance generations.